Rebecca

I will never fully understand when I arrive at a race to see people jockying for the best parking spot. We're all about to run a 5/10k, walking an extra 50 feet isn't going to hurt you. Anyway, I ran a lovely 10k this morning on Stanford's campus. They changed the course this year so we came at a section that used to be a long, slow uphill rom the opposite side, making it a long, slow downhill, which was great fun. But somehow in the course rejiggering they lost a 1/2 mile, by my GPS watch the race was 5.77 miles, not 6.2. Oops.

There is some interesting work/life upheaval going in my world right now, begun by a chance meeting with an old co-worker that led to a job interview. J and I are having lots of deep, emotional conversations about the future and our goals both short and long term. Tied into this is stuff about family, about my 'career', about where we want to live, and the fact that every choice has pros and cons and of course there aren't any guarantees. But I think we've come to a decision that is reasonable and makes sense -and after feeling anxious and a little sick to my stomach for days I feel much calmer.

So the end result is that we're planning to move out of the Bay Area next March, if not before. We've vaguely talked about leaving before, house prices here are beyond insane, there are no rent controls in place where we are, and we're not getting any younger. If we want to own a home sooner rather than later, than we need to do what will put us in a position to do that sooner rather than later.I don't know what will happen with this new job, I have a 2nd interview tomorrow. On the pro side it feels like a good direction for me to move, and I think I'd really enjoy working on a campus. But on the con side it's tough to take a new job when I know I'm leaving in nine months, not that they need to know that, and at least one of the big responsibilities is something I'd be good at and not enjoy. Where I am is not great, but it would be a good and easy place to leave from, and last week my boss mentioned that we have money for training and are there any classes I'd want to take? (when it rains....)Talking with my parents my mom said something that makes a lot of sense - whatever happens with the new job the universe has apparently decided it's time for us to get out of our current rut and make a change. Yup.

J bought a book on shrubs - not the plants but the old-timey vinegar based drinks. He made a strawberry balsamic shrub that is amazing, and I'm going to make a pomegranite shrub this evening. I am cheating and bought pom juice instead of breaking apart and juicing my own fruit, but I've made my peace with that. Once the shrub is built you can mix it with seltzer or there are some cocktail recipes too. Mmm, fruity summer drinks.

It has stopped surprising me, but I always find it amusing that somehow walking and working out are so separate in some folks' brains.

We're thinking Denver: J has family nearby (but not in Denver), it's a closer hop for me to get to family in WI, and we've got some friends there who would let us couch surf for a while to get settled. J lived in CO for high school and part of college, though not in Denver, so he has an idea of the area already.

We're thinking Denver - it makes sense family wise (close to J's sibs and mom but not in the same town) and we've got friends there who can help give us a start. Yeah, it's a little odd, I agree. There's a chance that even if they make an offer I'll turn them down, but I finally realized that without an offer I don't have enough information so I'm trying to stop spinning on that for the moment.

Shrubs are an interesting combination of sweet and sour. The one I made tonight is 1 1/2 cups of pom juice, 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar, and 3/4 cup sugar. Add all of it to a mason jar and shake to combine. I'm mixing the shrub in equal measure with fizzy water and I really like it. You don't exactly taste the vinegar, but it adds an interesting bite.

The Bay Area is huge. When I first lived here in 1997 it was possible to find inexpensive housing in and around the area if you searched for a bit. Now from San Jose to Marin, and the coast to 580, is essentially one, giant, expensive city. To afford a house we'd have to move so far to the edges we may as well just move to Sacramento.